Then we might as well congratulate Lay, Fastow etc. etc. etc. on a fraud well executed and get on with business.

That's not what I'm saying at all.

As I said earlier, garbage like this, in some shape or form, is always gonna happen, no matter what you do. That even though the levels of intensity, frequency, and volume will fluctuate with each era, the ability to mess around and break the law is built into the fundamental system itself.

Why? Because humans are involved. Sure, you can create laws and enforce them and all that, but you can't change human nature. There will always be greed and temptation lurking about. There will always be a few bad apples -- or even a few GOOD apples who have a momentary lapse in judgement -- who will try to get away with things, for whatever reason(s). Set up new roadblocks, and they will rise to the challenge and find a way around them. You plug a leak in the dam, and sooner or later, a new one is sure to spring elsewhere.

Also, because money is involved -- a medium that can be manipulated in a myriad of ways. And as much as money is a good thing for civilization, you have to expect the bad along with the good. People have been attempting (and some succeeding) to lie, cheat and swindle their way to riches -- for millenia (yes, thousands of years). Sure, you might be able to suppress it a little for a while, but it's not about to disappear forever anytime soon.

Hey, I'm with you guys... make new laws and regulations, punish the bad guys, be on constant vigil for any wrong-doing, all that good stuff. We obviously needed it -- and still do.

But remember, humans are humans. And where there's a will, there's a way. Humans are a creative, inventive, clever, and resourceful group. How do you think our species has stayed alive -- even flourished -- for so long? By using those very qualities for the good of the whole, not only to survive, but to propel ourselves forward. But in the same breath, we can also use those same qualities for purposes of evil. And some people do, as we now know all too well.

As depressing as it might sound, it's a constant struggle, one that will never see a total victor as long as we humans are around.

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